By the time Aerosmith's sixth studio release was issued, 1979's Night in the Ruts, guitarist Joe Perry had finally left the band after years of drug-fueled bickering with singer Steven Tyler (forming the Joe Perry Project by year's end). Most of the tracks were completed before Perry's departure, with replacement Jimmy Crespo filling the few empty spaces. And while the band looks back upon this period as hazy and frustrating, Night in the Ruts is a surprisingly coherent and inspired album. Although it's not up to par with such classics as Toys in the Attic or Rocks (although it could have been if the band weren't in such a state of turmoil at the time), it was definitely leaner and more focused than their last studio release, Draw the Line.

To record the complete sets of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words represents a real challenge, with more than two hours of music. The prodigious pianist Stphane De May shares his passion delicately and thoughtfully through his sensitive performance of these works.

"Steinway & Sons presents the debut recording of pianist Antonio Chen Guang, winner of the First Olga Kern International Piano Competition in 2016. Antonio Chen Guang combines his extraordinary technical capacity with a profound and mature musical sensibility and an exceptional onstage charisma."

18 years have passed since AND OCEANS delighted us with their last album "Cympher". A lot has changed since then, but one thing remains, and that is the exceptional musical ability, which is reflected in the music of AND OCEANS The fumes of Scandinavian black metal were poisoning the air and the second wave of black metal had taken a new form. …AND OCEANS emerged in this scene in 1995, with an exceptional and unique symphonic approach to the music. Still seeking the musical path to take, the Finns delivered a few demos before signing to Season of Mist shorty after. …AND OCEANS’ new album ‘Cosmic World Mother’, sees the Finnish metal outfit return to a ferocious black metal sound, combined with industrial and symphonic influences. The songs are bristling with creativity and energy, intertwining the …AND OCEANS sound with elements from the different projects the musicians have played in over the years.

A sharp departure from 1999's acclaimed With a Song in My Heart, which featured Soloff in a rare straight-ahead jazz setting. This outing, in contrast, features no fewer than four songs from the classic rock canon: Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Susie Q" and "Born on the Bayou," Jimi Hendrix's "Up from the Skies," and – no kidding – Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." One almost wonders why they left out Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird." In all seriousness, Soloff and crew have a lot of fun with these, especially the Hendrix tune, which was a staple of the Gil Evans Orchestra's repertoire when Soloff was a principal member. Even the supermarket-ready reading of "Stairway to Heaven" has its rewards – Lou Marini playing the opening countermelody on a real flute instead of a Mellotron, for instance.

Leo Kottke - Burnt Lips (1978) {Chrysalis–BGO Records BGOCD259 rel 1994}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks) +CUE+LOG -> 236 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 1994 Chrysalis Records / BGO Records | BGOCD259
Finger-Picked Guitar / Progressive Folk / Contemporary Folk / New Acoustic

The subjects of death and betrayal permeate this understandably dark album. Opening with the Nick Lowe chestnut "Endless Sleep" as a slow acoustic blues, this unpredictable guitar un-star also sings about "Sonora's Death Row" and offers the opinion that "Everybody Lies." His always problematic singing assumes a prominent role, which might not be the best strategy. He showcases his string wizardry on "A Dull Thud" and several other instrumentals.

Filmed in 1979, this delightful staging by Otto Schenk features outstanding singer-actresses Gwyneth Jones, Brigitte Fassbaender and Lucia Popp. Der Rosenkavalier is Richard Strauss’s most popular opera and the greatest comic opera since Mozart. Premiered just three years before the start of the First World War, the opera traces the artistic heritage of the Austrian-Hungarian empire in the days of Mozart, where the story is set, to the morbid distraction of the Viennese Art Nouveau.

Eddie Costa - Guys and Dolls Like Vibes (1958) {Verve Master Edition 549 366-2 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 144 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 126 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1958, 2001 Coral / Verve / UMG | 549 366-2 | Verve Master Edition Series
Jazz / Bop / Vibes

The reissue of Eddie Costa's Guys and Dolls Like Vibes once again makes available one of his few dates as a leader. A talented vibraphonist (and also pianist, though he doesn't play it on this 1958 session), Costa leads a sterling quartet with the legendary Bill Evans on piano (although he was just starting to get noticed by the jazz press at the time), Wendell Marshall on bass, and drummer Paul Motian, in a Frank Loesser songbook taken from the musical Guys and Dolls.

Villa Pamphili is a double CD set with a selection of 32 tracks by Italian prog bands! In addition to major band tracks, this sampler includes also several rare tracks from vintage 7" singles by less known groups: Fholks, Fiori di Campo and even Krel (an early PFM line-up from 1970). Pay attention: while Villa Pamphili was a live 1970's concert, this double CD is not a live album from that concert.